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Opinion

3 Positives and 3 Negatives from Newcastle 2 West Ham 4

3 years ago
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Sunday afternoon ended Newcastle 2 West Ham 4.

Ahead of each match we ask one of our writers to come up with 3 positives and 3 negatives following the game.

This time it is Davey Hat-Trick who has the job…

POSITIVES

A Full(ish) SJP

It felt great to be back in the stadium.

It was great to see Newcastle shirts thronging the city centre and walking up to the ground. The pre-match pint was particularly enjoyable and the sound of 50,000 Geordies celebrating a couple of goals was music to my ears.

I know there will be people reading this who have vowed never to return to St James Park; I was only there because a friend couldn’t make it. But if the last 18 months has taught us anything it is that we must savour live sport. We can’t take it for granted.

We attacked

Like many Newcastle fans, I’ve been bored witless by many of our performances under Steve Bruce. There have been times when we looked like we had seven defenders, plus three blokes up front that were on zero-hours contracts and weren’t required to attend work on that day.

So it was refreshing to see the ball moving forwards more often and more quickly, particularly in the first half. Our failings today were not in attack.

Better to come

I was good to see Joe Willock being introduced to the crowd. He should deliver energy and optimism. And we – hopefully – have better defenders to come in.

I’m not sure why Schär and Lascelles were on the bench and I hope Dummett gets over his injury quickly.

Today was a poor one in the end but the problems we had ought to be fixable.

NEGATIVES

Nervousness > capitulation

When we were ahead 1-0, and again at 2-1, the Newcastle team never looked comfortable.

I’m not even sure they believed they could win.

When it was 2-2, they looked like they know they’d lose. And so it proved to be.

It has been a feature of Newcastle for a while now, but confidence isn’t something they have a lot of, and when you lack confidence you usually get beaten.

Midfield over-run

West Ham bypassed our midfield time and again.

We just looked short on numbers.

Hayden was ineffective but he has just returned from injury. Shelvey ran around a bit and that has some novelty value.

But West Ham dominated the midfield.

Defence too slow

I was shocked at how easily West Ham got through our defence.

Players I like looked ponderous, got caught on the wrong foot on more than one occasion, and couldn’t cope with the movement of the Hammers forwards.

I’m hoping it was just a one-off; I know these lads can do a lot better.

Stats from BBC Sport:

Newcastle 2 West Ham 4 – Sunday 15 August 2pm

Goals:

Newcastle:

Wilson 5, Murphy 40

West Ham:

Cresswell 18, Benrahma 53, Soucek 63, Antonio 66

Possession was West Ham 53% Newcastle 47%

Total shots were West Ham 18  Newcastle 17

Shots on target were West Ham 9 Newcastle 3

Corners were West Ham 6 Newcastle 7

Referee: Martin Atkinson

Newcastle United:

Woodman, Murphy, Krafth (Sean Longstaff 84), Fernandez, Clark, Ritchie, Shelvey (Fraser 70), Hayden, Almiron, Saint-Maximin, Wilson (Joelinton 85)

Unused Subs:

Gillespie, Gayle, Schar, Lascelles, Lewis, Hendrick

Crowd: 50,673 (3,000 West Ham)

(Steve Bruce blames match officials for 4-2 home defeat to West Ham – read HERE)

(Newcastle 2 West Ham 4 – Instant NUFC fan/writer reaction to Sunday’s demoralising defeat – Read HERE)

(Newcastle 2 West Ham 4 – It’s not how you start it’s how you finish – Read HERE)

(Mike Ashley refusal to invest at the back will cost Newcastle United dearly based on this – Read HERE)

(David Moyes has zero doubts – A ‘travesty’ if West Ham hadn’t beaten Newcastle United – Read HERE)

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